Endangered Georgia
Why plants become extinct

STORY AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAURA MARTIN

Persistent trillium (Trillium persistens) is a beautiful federally endangered plant growing in Georgia.

Our state is blessed with a wide variety of different ecosystems. From the semi-tropics of Georgia’s coast to the cold mountain peaks of the north, we can boast places and spaces that are home to many different kinds of plants and animals. Among these are many species that are so rare that they are protected by both state and federal laws.

According to Jennifer Ceska, conservation coordinator at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, our state ranks fifth in the nation for the total number of plant species at 2,994, and ranks seventh in the number of endangered plant species found growing here.

Unfortunately, we also rank fifth in the U.S. for the number of plant species that have already gone extinct.

Based on the Endangered Species Act of 1973, “the United States has pledged itself … to conserve to the extent practicable the various species of fish or wildlife and plants facing extinction …”

Species become extinct for a variety of reasons and, although the history of the earth has always seen an ebb and flow of species, extinction rates today are astronomically different than at any other time. With the blessings of our wealth of natural resources comes the responsibility to protect them.

Understanding a little more about the plants that are threatened and the laws that protect them may make our job as stewards of the environment a little easier. The designations assigned to various plants can be confusing. According to the federal definitions, plants listed as endangered are considered the most vulnerable to extinction. Threatened indicates a species that is likely become endangered in the near future. Rare means simply that it should be protected because of its scarcity, and unusual applies to plants subject to commercial exploitation—such as certain species of lady slippers or trilliums that are too often dug from the wild and sold to gardeners. The state list is broader and includes more species, but the interpretation of the designations is the same. All species that are listed endangered at the federal level, for example, are also considered endangered at the state level.

Scutellaria montana, or mountain skullcap, is known to grow only in Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Gordon and Floyd counties in Georgia. It is endangered due to the spread of exotic weeds and the loss of habitat.

As populations of protected plants increase or decrease, their status may change. Ideally, conservation efforts can result in species being taken off the list, or moved from an endangered status to threatened or even rare. Every time this happens, it is cause for celebration. But the changes in status mean that the lists, both federal and state, are always in a state of fluctuation. As of this time, the latest statistics (April 2004) from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources show that 105 species in Georgia are protected. But, according to Ceska, these numbers only account for plants found on land owned by the state or federal governments. “No laws protect endangered plants on private property. It is up to the good will of the landowner to protect them,” she says.

Loss of natural habitat is one of the primary reasons that plants become extinct. Hairy rattleweed is found only in two counties of Southeast Georgia and is endangered because its natural habitat has been altered for pine plantations. But there are other reasons plants can become endangered. For example, the lovely smooth purple coneflower (known to grow wild in only one area of Georgia) has been endangered because so many people have collected it from the wild. The persistent trillium is losing ground to invasive plants that out-compete it for space and nutrients.

What can we do? How can we, as individuals, make a difference? Ceska advises: “Don’t buy wild collected plants, especially pitcher plants, trilliums and terrestrial orchids. And don’t buy plants that are invasive. When you are hiking, stay on the trails. But most of all, study and learn about plants.”

One of the most exciting ways that students can help is to participate in the Georgia Endangered Plant Stewardship Network (GEPSN), a project started in 1996 at the State Botanical Garden. Through this project, students learn to propagate and care for protected plants at their own school sites. As they plant the seeds and watch them grow, kids will know that they are taking an active part in helping conserve one of our most precious resources. For more information, contact GEPSN at (706) 542-6448 or e-mail jceska@uga.edu. Laura Martin, of Atlanta, is the author of 18 books on gardening and nature crafts.

Hairy rattleweed (Baptista arachnifera) is a federally endangered plant growing in Georgia.

At-risk plants:

The most at-risk plants in Georgia are those that are on the federal endangered list. These include:

Amphianthus pusillus, Pool sprite
Baptisia arachnifera, hairy rattleweed
Clematis socialis, Alabama leather flowers
Echinacea laevigata, smooth purple coneflower
Gymnoderma lineare, rock gnome lichen
Isoetes melanospora, black-spored quillwort
Isoetes tegetiformans, mat-forming quillwort
Lindera melissifolia, pondberry
Oxypolis canbyi, Canby’s dropwort
Ptilimnium nodosum, harperella
Rhus michauxii, dwarf sumac, michaux’s sumac

Sarracenia oreophila, green pitcher plant
Schwalbea Americana, chaffseed
Scutellaria montana, mountain skullcap
Silene polypetala, fringed campion
Thalictrum cooleyi, trailing meadowrue
Torreya taxifolia, Florida torreya
Trillium persistens, persistent trillium
Trillium reliquum, relict trillium
Xyris tennesseensis, Tennessee yellow-eyed grass

For more information about Georgia’s protected plants, contact the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, (770) 918-6411, or visit the Web site at www.georgiawildlife.com.

Gardening chores for November:

• On warm days, continue to clean up the garden, composting weeds and disease-free plants.

• Now is a good time to take cuttings from roses and junipers, as they are changing with the coming cold weather.

• Harvest warm weather annual herbs. Dry, package and give them away as gifts.

• Harvest tomatoes, even if they show a hint of pink, before a hard frost. Use green tomatoes to make pickles or fry them for sandwiches.

• Reduce lawn-mowing frequency, preparing the grass to go dormant for winter.